The Best Earnings Bets?

An earnings upgrade or recommendation from an analyst is still one of the best ways to drive a stock higher. So who collects that information for investors?

It's earnings season, a time when we can discover not just how Corporate America is doing but also how well Wall Street is doing on its earnings-per-share estimates and stock ratings.

Investors can reasonably debate the accuracy of these exercises, but they can't argue about their influence on stock performance, says Kevin Matras, a vice president at Zacks Investment Research, which compiles both earnings estimates and stock ratings. A recent study Matras conducted found that stocks most analysts had upgraded appreciated...